By Boiketlo Lamula
Photo from Bing: a stack of gold made coins, a country’s mining sector always has a big influence on its economy.
In the year 1920, sometime after World War I ended, a German chemist by the name of Fritz Haber began to devote his efforts and time to research in the extraction of gold from the sea. His goal was to use that gold to repay Germany’s huge debt and mend a tremendously troubled economy. Although his idea and long years of research failed, we are
left pondering upon his idea of leaning on precious minerals for economic security.
I once had a teacher that always said, “once we understand the laws, we understand the money.” This was with reference to laws governing the production, as well as the import and export of alcohol. Laws like tequila only being termed “tequila” if it has been produced and bottled in and around the town of Tequila in Mexico, for example. This means that only
Mexico reaps the economic benefits of being the only country that produces authentic tequila from Agave tequilana, the blue Agave plant.
Just like the existence of one plant in one country is yielding tremendous economic benefit, so can the existence of a mineral, or group of minerals in a country. Following the timeline of today’s fiat currencies, with their production and use of coins and paper money, one can from the beginning analyse the use of bartering with actual precious metals. In South Africa, the late 19th century presented a time of petty wars and economic calamities which were heightened with the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand. Also, the discovery of diamonds before that. But, even before the gold rush of the Transvaal, President Burgers had collected gold nuggets from Lydenburg, located in today’s province of Mpumalanga, and had them minted in England with his face on them.
A visit to modern day Lydenburg, today also referred to by its historical name as given by the Bapedi who initially inhabited it before the Voortrekkers, Mashishing, will bath the observers’ eyes with scenes of a still thriving little mining and agricultural town. As the sun set upon the hilltops, and as we drove through the streets, the persistent sight of black male miners possibly heading home filled my view. This visit to Lydenburg was simply as a visitor four years ago. But today, I have decided to revisit the scenery captured by my mind and learn a bit more about the mining there.
What was once a town teeming of rich goldfields, today mostly seeps of toxic chemicals from abandoned mines as well as a handful of coal mines and refineries. Where mining of the most economically and environmentally friendly metals is still underway, it is by the huge mining conglomerate, Anglo American. Although they not too long ago got hit by
promising competition from local mining giants, Lonmin as well as Impala Platinum, they still hold a lot of the mining rights. They mine the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) which are known to be of great economic value, not only to raw mineral imports and exports, but to manufacturing and processing as well.
The mining rights of South Africa do not favour local communities, they do not favour historically marginalized groups who should be reaping the benefits of living upon such rich resources. Instead, the propagation of two malicious systems continues to thrive and will continue to be cloaked in failing promises: colonialism and a broken political system. The rich will go on to grow richer, and the poor poorer. Where smooth roads should be running through the streets for example, small towns like Lydenburg still have roads full of holes. If the citizens were indeed of importance as these stakeholders claim, would such a rich town be clothed in such rags?
In the late 20th century, it was found that South Africa had the greatest gold fields, hence the term “eGoli”, the famous City of Gold, Johannesburg. But today, South Africa’s gold mines have crumbled. The country’s mines are crumbling. It is an interlock of a variety of problems; the lack of the patriotic scientists such as Fritz Haber because of an educational system that increasingly only supports the supported, made even more profound by the corrupt politics, and the debt ladders growing taller and taller. If South Africans are still stepping on precious ground, could South Africa still use its minerals to its benefit?
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